Reflecting the adverse effect of global economic uncertainty, India’s services exports dipped in September to $11.2 billion from $11.9 bn in August.
It was $10.4 bn in July. The Reserve Bank of India began releasing monthly data on trade in services only this financial year. Hence, comparable data for the same month in 2010-11 is not available to capture the trend.
The imports, payments for services, also declined to $6.8 bn in September from $6.9 bn in August. Imports for July were $5.9 bn.
The growth in services receipts and payments remained moderate during the first quarter as compared with that recorded in Q1 of 2010-11. These were also lower as compared to the preceding quarter, according to the RBI.
Some sectors, such as information technology (IT) are facing challenges in the global economy. IT exports have a large share in the services trade. There is also moderation in domestic economic activity. The data on services trade (exports and imports) is reflecting what is happening in the real economy.
Merchandise exports, after growing at an impressive speed for much of the first half, have are also begun to show signs of moderation.